IG Patel: IMF and a Bengali family

Dr IG Patel presumably during his IMF days

On the occasion of Dr IG Patel’s centenary, I gave an overview of his life and career (see here). I promised to elaborate in different parts. In the first part (see here), I covered IG’s early life and education. We concluded the first part by referring to IG being seconded to the International Monetary Fund as part of efforts to train young economists who could come back and serve the Government of India. In this second part, I discuss his time at the IMF. At the end, I narrate about his getting to know in Washington, D.C., a Bengali family from Dacca in present-day Bangladesh. Continue reading “IG Patel: IMF and a Bengali family”

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IG Patel: Early life and education

Monday, 11 November 2024, marks the centenary of Dr IG Patel. In my blog on Substack (see here), I gave an overview of his life, career, and achievements. I suggest that you read that before continuing here. At the end of that post, I promised to cover different aspects of his life in greater detail. In this first part, I cover Dr IG Patel’s early life and education. Continue reading “IG Patel: Early life and education”

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In search of Sir James Taylor

The youngest and the only Governor of the Reserve Bank of India to die in office, James Taylor spent almost his entire career in the cause of central banking in India for around two decades. In that sense, he was India’s first real central banker.

Like a flower, he comes forth and withers.
He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

Job 14:2

Continue reading “In search of Sir James Taylor”

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Answers to RBI Quiz 2022

The long answers to RBI Quiz 2022 are given below: Continue reading “Answers to RBI Quiz 2022”

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Rupee and SDR

A potpourri of personal thoughts and anecdotes on exchange control, the dollar, the rupee and SDR

Photo by Aakash Dhage on Unsplash

During the over three decades in central banking, I never worked in foreign exchange or related functions. Without going into detail, this was part choice and part chance. Nevertheless, my batch’s 64-week induction training involved working for two months at all desks, including clerical ones, of the Exchange Control Department (ECD), as the department was then known. When ‘management’ replaced ‘regulation’ in the erstwhile Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, ECD eschewed ‘control’ and became the Foreign Exchange Department. Similarly, the Controller in charge of the Department’s Central Office in Mumbai became a Chief General Manager like any other. Continue reading “Rupee and SDR”

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Year-end Quiz 2022

Quiz 2022, like last year, focuses on central banking in India.

Reserve Bank of India, Chennai, around 1960, when the building was inaugurated.

There is a prize, like last year, for the first person to answer all questions correctly. The details are in my substack post. Participation in the quiz is open to those who were following me on substack at gsreekumar.substack.com as on 31 December 2022. Continue reading “Year-end Quiz 2022”

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The Regulations Review Authority

More on the Regulations Review Authority, or RRA

Background

Regulations Review Authority
Dr YV Reddy

On 13 March 1999, the Reserve Bank of India decided to set up a Regulations Review Authority for one year. The objective was to make the Reserve Bank regulations effective and simple. The background to constituting the RRA, effective from 1 April 1999, was as given below: Continue reading “The Regulations Review Authority”

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My meetings with Dr Reddy

Dr Yaga Venugopal Reddy (www.yvreddy.com)

Another day in 1998

From 1996 to 1998, I was an AGM and Member of Faculty at the Reserve Bank of India’s Zonal Training Centre (ZTC) in Mumbai. The ZTC was then on the fourth floor of the Bank’s Byculla Office opposite the Bombay Central Station. The story of my meetings with Dr Reddy starts on 7 October 1998. On my way home, I saw a tray next to a pillar on the ground floor. It always had letters addressed to the hoi polloi, staff not important enough to receive letters at their desks. Those were still snail mail days. Nevertheless, I always ignored the tray. But that day, my sixth sense indicated a letter for me.

As I rifled through the pile, my fingers fell on a white cover with the RBI logo in navy blue at one end. Turning it over, I found my name and address scrawled at the right end. On the left was printed, also in navy blue, “Reserve Bank of India Central Office Bombay”. Above it was another scribble: Dr YV Reddy, Deputy Governor. Continue reading “My meetings with Dr Reddy”

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The NSE Case: The Yogi and the Commissariat

The NSE Case, where Chitra Ramkrishna and a Paramahamsa took the world’s leading derivatives exchange to the cleaners

National Stock Exchange Head Office, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai
The National Stock Exchange

“Man is neither angel nor brute, and his misery is that he who would act the angel acts the brute.” – Blaise Pascal

Continue reading “The NSE Case: The Yogi and the Commissariat”

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